Beatsarcoma

Nonprofit Issues:

Health, Cancer

Address:

143 28th St Suite 4San FranciscoCA94131USA

Mission:

Sarcoma is a form of cancer that arises in the connective tissues. It affects primarily children and young adults. They are hard to diagnose, hard to detect and hard to treat. Biopsy is the only diagnostic tool and surgery often the only curative treatment. Many sarcomas resist current cancer treatments, simply because they are little understood by researchers.
- 20% of childhood cancers are sarcomas. They affect also many young adults. Sarcoma destroys so many lives before they have had time to blossom.
- Sarcoma gets less than 1% of cancer research funds - this is not enough. Sarcoma research is years behind compared to that for other cancers.
This is the situation we would like to change - and reestablish a working cycle between basic research => transational research => clinical research (often funded by the industry). The middle link seems broken for sarcoma.

Programs:

In 2008, we are planning on funding the following research program - through a variety of initiatives. We are also developing a Kid's Program and to date have distributed 15 books to children with sarcoma in hospitals.
What is the problem
One of the biggest questions in sarcoma treatment is accurately diagnosing the type of sarcoma and its aggressiveness. This is important because more specific and accurate pathology translate into better treatment plans. Being able to reliably and consistently diagnose the cancer is the first major step toward a reliable and consistent set of solutions. A team of world-class experts couldn't agree on a single diagnoses nor provide one recommendation based on a clear set of data to our founder.
What does the solution look like?
It requires establishing a link between the biology of sarcoma cells and their associated patient outcomes. Such a link is called a correlation. With this information, scientists will better understand the biologic factors that help predict patient outcomes. This is what Dr. Amreen Husain and her team would like to do, with your help.
Specifically, how is this done?
These biologic factors are called histopathologic criteria. Histopathology is the microscopic study of diseased tissue. It reveals the types of cells present in abnormal tissue and permits accurate diagnosis, including a measure of the aggressiveness of the disease. The analysis results in a list of histopathologic criteria. Today, for sarcoma, these criteria are insufficient. It is common for a patient to get as many recommendations as there are physicians that studied their pathology slides. This can be dangerous as the histopathologic criteria assist the clinician in deciding on the best course of action.
In order to gain such a deep understanding, scientists need a lot of examples - eg. a lot of sarcoma cell samples with associated clinical information. Using gene and protein microarrays, researchers can study the biology of these cells and see if histopathologic patterns appear for any given clinical outcome.
How will this help patients?
A large study such as this one really has the potential to have a large impact on the future of sarcoma research and eventually clinical care.
1) It tells us which biologic factors are relevant to the clinical outcome - scientists won't waste time on the ones that aren't.
2) It tells us to what extent each biologic factor can be associated with a given outcome. The factors that most strongly correlate with a bad outcome will make ideal targets for future treatments.
The information will also help oncologists make treatment recommendations - the more aggressive the cancer, the more aggressive the treatment.
This work has been done for other types of cancer but there are no large and comprehensive tissue banks with clinical information for sarcoma. One of the goals of the project coordinated at Stanford is to expand tissue collection, banking and analysis of all types of sarcoma to help physicians better predict clinical outcomes.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

It is one thing to be hit by a nasty disease, it is another one to not know what the prognosis is and face a medical body that doesn't really know what to tell you! Nathalie faced it all with great strength and courage and extensively researched the little information available. She decided to help others by creating this foundation, instead of just focusing on her own treatment. I participated to the organisation of the first Sarcoma race and was amazed by the organisation and professionalism.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

Nat founded Beat Sarcoma as a survivor of Sarcoma cancer. She is a fighter that can move mountains for the cause always having new ideas to raise money for the research on that forgotten cancer that affect mainly the children and young adults.
Beat Sarcoma is actively working with a top 5 university helping funding their research on this type of cancer.
Lots of people volunteer in that great nonprofit as I do and it is worth it because 100% of the proceeds go to the research and all of that with a big smile.
Great place to volunteer.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

Nat leads a great organization. Her dedication and determination is inspiring. And she has great ideas that integrate with her own life and bring people together to create community that really makes BeatSarcoma a strong organization..

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I admire the founder's take on life after surviving sarcoma and her devotion to help beating this disease.
With very scarce resources the organization has
generated visibility and awareness about sarcoma, thanks to the ingenuity of a small group of committed and energetic people.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

Nat Criou has done an amazing job running BeatSarcoma. She works tirelessly to generate awareness of this type of cancer and has touched many people's lives with her positive energy. I'm always impressed by her strength and energy.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I have volunteered for BeatSarcoma on a number of events, including the Sarcoma Cup. I find Nat a delight to work with. I am particularly impressed with the focus of this cause (sarcoma is less funded and understood than other cancers) and the transparency of the organization (they publish their financial statements in Google Docs). I would recommend them to anyone.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

The Beat Sarcoma Cup is a top notched well organized and well run benifit sailing regatta that Nathalie Criou has organized with the help of Richmond Yacht Club. Nathalie has helped to shed light on a type of cancer and has oped many eyes to a disease that needs so much attention in medical research to help find a cure. If you are a sailor and want to help in some small way, find a boat, find a ride and come help for a cure.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I have been the race director of the BeatSarcoma run for the last two years,and have enjoyed seeing both runners and walkers show their support for sarcoma cancer research.
Nathalie Criou's tireless efforts to increase exposure and education through BeatSarcoma events has contributed greatly to advancing this this worthy cause. I look forward to working with Nathalie again for the 2010 BeatSarcoma run.
Samuel Harvell